Stay Strong

Ten-year-old Ryan Wheldon is no stranger to tragedy. After losing a father and a best friend when he was four, he's been through more than most kids his age have. He and his family are sure that the rough edges of their rollercoaster life have smoothed over time, and they are ready to move on.

But then his eight-year-old brother Cody is diagnosed with leukemia, and their world is sent spiralling out of control. They are moved to Meadowview Children's Hospital three hours away, where they must stay for the brutal chemotherapy treatments. But that's not all - another medical crisis soon appears in the picture, and an accident Ryan believes he caused nearly claims the life of his youngest sibling. He's not sure how much more of his life he can take.

But soon he discovers a saying - stay strong - and he uses it to encourage his family to fight their battles. He knows he, too, must keep his thoughts positive, and with the power of strength and love, Ryan is determined to lead his family down the road to recovery.

Chapters:

Another week had passed, and more
and more sickness followed for Cody. Some mornings he awoke
feeling as if he were too weak to take on the day, and other
mornings he awoke with just enough strength to sit up in bed.
Whenever Theresa entered the room with a tray of food, he would
turn it down, as the constant waves of nausea never allowed him
to have a chance at being hungry. Dr. Hiru had been right when
he'd said that cancer was not an easy thing to deal with once the
chemotherapy had started. The cancer was clearly proving its
existence, and only the chemo could take care of it, but even
that came with more sickness.

"Is that normal?" Ryan asked as
he pointed at Cody's pale face and the bags under his
eyes.

Theresa turned the pages in the
cancer book. "I have no idea," she said. "There's nothing in here
that mentions that."

Dr. Yelena dodged the girls on
the floor as she entered the room and approached Theresa on the
chairs, watching Cody as she neared him. In her gloved hands, she
held a few doctors masks, and set them upon Theresa's lap.
"You'll need these," she said. "We're going to be putting Cody in
isolation, so there's going to be a sign outside the door to warn
any visitors."

Theresa was confused. "What going
to happen?" she asked.

Dr. Yelena sighed. "When a
patient is in isolation, it means their condition is serious, and
they must be protected from germs. Visiting hours are going to be
limited, so he will have to spend some nights alone. This is only
temporary, but it helps to prevent the spread of germs in the
hospital. He's got the flu, and because of his immune system,
it's going to come a lot worse than what's normally
expected."

Ryan's jaw dropped at the mention
of that. His brother was really sick. They would have to wear
doctors masks around him, that was how bad it was. "How long does
it take?" he asked.

"Each patient is different," Dr.
Yelena answered. "The time it takes to go away depends on his
ability to fight it off. In fact, some patients don't even make
it out of isolation, but from the looks of it, Cody shouldn't
take too long to get out of it. It will take some time,
though."

Both Theresa and Ryan frowned as
they placed the masks over their faces. Now that Cody was
really sick, everything seemed to be even more real than
before. Although he hadn't been doing well for the past week,
there was still the hope that he was getting better, but now it
was crushed. Where on earth did he catch the flu from? More
importantly, how would he fight it off? He seemed to be getting
weaker by the day, and he felt as if he couldn't take the pain
and sickness anymore. Like Dr. Hiru had said, it was only the
beginning of his journey, but he really didn't want things to get
worse. Everything was taking a turn for the worse already, and he
dreaded the next few months to come.

The thunder rumbled loudly
outside, and lightning flashed through the windows, reminding the
family that it would not be a good day. The rain poured hard, and
even splashed through the open window, which Dr. Yelena quickly
shut. Cody rolled over in the bed and placed his hands over his
ears as another loud crack of thunder shook the room. He hated
thunderstorms. To make matters worse, they were on the top floor,
where they were closer to the sky and the storm was much louder.
They could hear the torrential downpour hitting the roof of the
building, which drowned out the sound of the voices in room 1204.
One more streak of lightning and suddenly the lights went
out.

"Mommy!" Jodi and Shirley
shrieked as they raced over to Theresa and gripped onto her
tightly.

Another rumble of thunder shook
the room. "It'll be okay," she assured them as she lifted the
mask off to speak. "They have backup."

The lights came back on, and she
could hear the sighs of relief escape her daughters. "I can see
again," said Jodi.

Theresa smiled. "Here, I need you
to put these on." She waved the green masks in front of the
girls. "Cody is really sick."

"What is that?" said
Shirley.

"It's a doctors mask," said
Theresa as she placed it over their noses. "We can't let Cody
catch our germs again."

"I can't even talk." Shirley's
voice was muffled as she mentioned it. "And it smells really bad
in here."

Theresa laughed. "But it's going
to protect Cody. We can take it off when we leave the room. Jodi
and I have to go for her appointment in an hour, anyway."

"Why doesn't Cody have to wear
one?" Jodi asked as she twisted her long ponytail around her
fingers.

"Because he's the one who's sick.
We need to wear these because they won't let him get even more
sick."

Jodi and Shirley locked eyes as
they both nodded, understanding. They played around with the
masks over their faces, observing the new "toys" and constantly
running their fingers along them. Returning to their dolls on the
floor, the girls ignored the rumbling of the thunder outside,
which gradually became less audible as time went on. They
returned to their imaginary world of princesses and Barbies and
blocked out all sound and movement around them, while Ryan
listened to some of the weird things they said. They had very
creative minds, as he had come to learn. He hoped they wouldn't
lose their creativity as they grew older -- already, they were
brilliant.

Cody fell asleep to the sound of
the rain, and Theresa wondered if it would be safe to send her
remaining children down to the playroom for about an hour, just
until Jodi's appointment. She'd stay in Cody's room and watch
over him in case anything happened, while the kids could at least
enjoy something for once. She didn't like that they were always
stuck in room 1204, and had never once visited the playroom. "Hey
Ryan, why don't you take the girls down to the playroom for a
little bit? I'm sure they'd love that."

Ryan sighed. "Do I have to?" he
said.

"Just please. It'll only be for
an hour, maybe even less. Jodi has her appointment in an hour
anyway."

Ryan sighed again. "Fine," he
said. "But I'm not playing with little dollies and all that girly
stuff."

Theresa laughed, and placed a
hand on his shoulder. "Just go. And be back at," she glanced up
at the clock, "one o'clock. Or before that, if you want."

"Definitely before," said Ryan.
He rose to his feet and headed over to his younger sisters, not
wanting to interrupt their make-believe world, but at the same
time, wanting to. "We're going to the playroom," he told them.
"You coming or nah?"

"Yes, finally!" Jodi shrieked as
she instantly ditched the Barbies and joined Ryan. "Shirley,
we're going to the playroom!"

"Yay!" said Shirley. She, too,
ditched the Barbies and exited the room with her brother, soon
finding herself outside the door of the playroom. "Are there
other girls in there?" she asked.

"I would imagine so," said Ryan.
"That would be weird if there wasn't."

The three stepped into the large
room, and the first thing they saw was the flurry of excited
children running around like animals in a game of tag, while
others sat quietly at a circular table drawing pictures and
making crafts. "So, which clan are you a part of?" Ryan asked his
sisters.

Jodi and Shirley were puzzled,
but Ryan shrugged anyway. "You can go play tag or something. I
have no idea what I'll do, though."

He found himself a seat on a
chair amongst many parents, mostly mothers, who watched their
children do whatever they wanted to do. He almost felt like he
didn't belong, considering no one his age was sitting near him.
He really didn't feel like talking to any parents -- that would
be awkward. If a mother turned to him and said, "Children are
such a blessing," or "My kids are best when they're happy," he
would get up and leave. Seriously. He didn't want to engage in
any parental talks with anyone. In all honesty, he didn't care.
Of course, he agreed it was a relief to get away from hospital
rooms and doctors, but he didn't want to discuss the existence of
children and how they were the greatest living things on earth to
take care of, blah blah blah...

Jodi and Shirley found their way
to the craft station rather than the game of tag, but Ryan could
already see that they were having fun drawing and gluing random
things to blank sheets of paper. Other little girls approached
them, mostly bald-headed, but still friendly. Ryan never
understood why others thought differently of kids with cancer.
Eventually, Cody would be completely hairless, and Ryan knew that
he'd be the target of stares in public. The moment people saw
cancer patients, they instantly felt sympathy. But why? If they
were getting better, why did people have to feel bad for them? He
knew Cody didn't want the pity of others, but it was unavoidable
once you stepped in public. Kids would point and ask why those
people had no hair, teenaged girls would spill out a ton of
"awww" comments, and adults would shoot them their famous
what-a-shame stares. Not only did cancer show itself on the
inside -- it showed itself on the outside too.

"Get a nurse!" The loud shriek
brought Ryan out of his thoughts, and he looked up. Everything
seemed to move in slow motion as his eyes caught sight of the
shocking scene.

Jodi was on the ground. Shaking.
Violently.

Adults rushed to her side, and
soon, Ryan did too. His heart was pumping so fast he feared he'd
collapse, and his breath hitched in his throat as he pushed his
way through the crowd and approached his sister. "Jodi!" he
called, but she just kept shaking. "Jodi, answer me!"

"She's having a seizure!" one of
the women called out, and rolled Jodi over onto her side. Ryan
wasn't sure why she'd done that, but he assumed it had something
to do with her safety.

The crowd gradually got smaller
as others raced off to get a nurse, but the blonde woman who'd
turned Jodi onto her side focused on staying next to her, and
could only manage one word to Ryan. "Would you like me to go and
get someone for you?"

"My mom!" Ryan shrieked. "She's
in room 1204!"

"Thank you." The woman rose to
her feet and immediately rushed out of the room, returning
moments later with Theresa at her side, as well as several nurses
and Dr. Hiru. Theresa was panicked, and hysterical tears rushed
down her red cheeks as she dropped to her knees and touched
Jodi's cooling forehead. Ryan and Shirley were somehow pushed out
of the crowd, but all Ryan could do was hold Shirley and hope for
the best.

Shirley was crying. "What's
happening?" she blubbered.

"She's just...having a seizure,"
said Ryan. "She's gonna be okay."

Ryan never thought he'd be the
one to comfort someone, but clearly Shirley had no idea what was
going on. One moment they were chatting and playing with their
new friends over arts and crafts, and in the next Jodi had fallen
out of her chair and was on the ground shaking and unresponsive.
Ryan understood her fear, as he was feeling the exact same thing,
but was not willing to show it. Clearly those headaches meant
something now, which only worried him more. What did the seizure
mean? Was it connected to those headaches she was having? He
couldn't help but wonder if his sister would, just like Cody,
receive her "life sentence." He certainly hoped not, but the
signs she was giving weren't at all normal.

Soon enough, they whisked Jodi
away, and Ryan and Shirley were back in room 1204 waiting while
Jodi recovered in another room, and was soon taken down to her
appointment. This was bad. Very bad. No kid just stumbled around
like a newborn calf and had one too many headaches, and then
dropped to the floor from a freaking seizure. Ryan's face fell as
he realized that Jodi was in the danger zone, and maybe she
wouldn't be alright. He suddenly felt like the worst brother ever
for ignoring her complaints and telling her it was all in her
head. Well, whatever it was really was in her head for sure, and
was about to ruin their lives yet again.

"So what really happened?" Cody
mumbled, but Ryan could barely understood a word.

"Huh?" said Ryan.

"What...happened." He said it
slowly so it was understandable, but it was still kind of hard to
hear what he was saying because of the tubes shoved in his
throat.

"Jodi had a seizure."

Cody felt like saying "No shit,"
but he just shook his head anyway. Well, tried to shake his head.
"Is...she...okay?"

Ryan felt tears form in his eyes,
and he blinked repeatedly to keep them from falling. "I don't
think so," he said sadly.

Ryan saw Shirley's little body
from the corner of his eye as she crawled into the chair next to
him, fiddling with the doctors mask on her face and still crying.
"Where's Jodi?" she asked for the millionth time.

"Downstairs," said Ryan. He
wasn't going to bother with a humerous reply, so he straight-up
told her where her sister was. "Appointment. Probably not
okay."

This only worsened Shirley's
cries. "I want her to come back," she said through her
tears.

"Why...wouldn't she...be okay?"
Cody asked.

Ryan was being bombarded with
millions of questions by both his siblings, and he almost felt
like screaming. "I don't know," was all he could say. "I'm not an
expert. Ask Dr. Yelena or something."

This seriously could not be
happening. This was all a dream, and he'd wake up if he closed
his eyes tight enough. But no matter how hard he tried, he was
still in the same spot, unmoving. He was growing more and more
frustrated, and wanted to punch something, or even worse,
someone. If cancer were a person, he'd probably kill him, and if
Jodi had cancer too, he'd bring this Cancer guy back to life just
so he could kill him again. God, what was wrong with this
world?

"So, how are we doing?" Dr.
Yelena asked them as she walked in the room, tying her long,
brown hair into a high ponytail.

All Ryan had to do was look at
her, and she knew.

Nothing would be the same around
here.

This family was certainly doomed
in more ways than one.

"I heard about what happened,"
she said, but still got the cold shoulder treatment.

Silence surrounded her. "How
about we play a game?" she suggested. "Did you guys bring any
board games to keep you occupied?"

"Yeah," Ryan finally said. "But
they're at our grandparents' house."

"Oh, that's not good. How about
we make up a game instead? How does that sound?"

"I can make up a game," said
Shirley.

"Really?" Dr. Yelena said
enthusiastically. "That's awesome! What were you
thinking?"

Shirley wiped the tears from her
eyes and laid back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling in
deep thought. "Can we use Barbies?" she asked.

Ryan sighed. "That's boring," he
said. "Why don't we just sit here and think about stuff instead
of playing a game? I don't want to."

He was sounding stubborn, but he
didn't mean to. He even had to go to baseball tonight, and he
wasn't looking forward to doing anything but sit in the hospital
room and sulk. He knew he had to get active and at least do
something with his life other than sit in a hospital room, but he
didn't feel like moving from the very spot he sat in. There was
nothing he could do to prevent what had happened to Jodi, and
that was all he wanted to think about. He wanted to think about
Cody and his cancer, and he wanted to dream up an imaginary place
where cancer didn't exist and everybody was happy. It sounded
silly, but really, it was all he had.

"Okay," said Dr. Yelena. "Shirley
and I can play, you don't have to."

The two engaged in some kind of
activity that involved a bunch of dolls and stuff, but Ryan just
sat there. And he thought. His gaze continuously switched from
nearly unconscious Cody to an excited Shirley as he could feel
the sickening absence of Jodi. She wasn't dead, thankfully -- or
at least he didn't think so. He knew that by now she was at her
appointment and getting some kind of brain scan, but he was never
updated on her condition. Her seizure was obviously over though.
If it wasn't, that would be weird -- and kind of scary. What
would it be like to have a seizure for hours and hours? All he
knew was that it would seriously suck, and it would worry
everyone around them.

***

"It's about time," said Ryan when
Theresa brought Jodi into the room three hours later. "Did they
rip apart her brain too?"

Theresa laughed. "No," she said,
placing the mask over her face. "She spent most of her time
recovering. How's Cody doing?"

Ryan pointed to the bowl which
had been used more times than he could count. "That's his best
friend today," he said. "I think the nurses have had to empty it,
like, three times today."

"Ouch." Theresa approached Cody's
bedside and stroked his cheek as he slept. "He's been doing an
awful lot of sleeping lately," she said.

"Sometimes he falls asleep when
you're in the middle of a conversation with him."

"Yes, I know." She wished she
could kiss Cody's cheek, but of course, the doctors would give
her crap if she did, and then proceed to warn her of the dangers
of the germs and all that medical stuff. She had no time to hear
that.

"So is there anything wrong with
Jodi?" Ryan finally asked.

"I don't know yet," said Theresa.
"I hope not."

"How do you not know? Didn't they
just do a bunch of tests?"

Theresa nodded. "We're not gonna
get the results right away," she said. "Probably tomorrow, or the
next day. Or the next day. Maybe even the day after that."

"That long?" Ryan sounded a
little scared. "If they did a brain scan, wouldn't they see if
she had anything right away?"

Theresa shrugged. "I have no
idea. I'm kind of glad I never became a doctor though. I'd never
be able to bear telling anyone their kid is dying or something
like that."

"Neither would I."

"You don't have to worry though,"
she said. "I'm not one of those parents who lives their dreams
through their kids. I went to school with a girl whose mother
forced her to become a doctor."

"That's stupid," said Ryan. "So
when's Cody getting more chemo?"

"I think in two weeks," said
Theresa. "Anyway, I'm gonna go and get us some supper, and when I
get back, you should be ready for baseball. Deal?"

Ryan smiled. "Deal."

Once she left, he shuddered with
disgust. The hospital food was actually so gross, and everyone
knew it. If they were lucky, maybe she'd sneak in some KFC or
something, and they could actually enjoy some real food.
Everything at the hospital either tasted like rubber or had the
flavour deep-fried right out of it. In all honesty, most of the
food tasted like nothing. It was like water in a way -- water
didn't have a specific taste. Water was water, and apparently at
the hospital, food was food. Whoever made the food and put it out
there obviously never tasted it, because if she did, even she
would gag.

Ryan quickly threw on his red
jersey and couldn't help but glance at Cody once more. He was
tough, and Ryan knew for sure that his brother was going to be
alright someday. He had recently come to learn that although
cancer changes the way a person looks at life, it doesn't change
who they truly are. Although he'd probably seem a little
different once the harsh treatments were over, he would still be
Cody -- his little brother that was annoying but funny at the
same time. If he was lucky, maybe he'd even get to watch the
baseball tournament at the end of the summer and cheer Ryan on
the way he used to. But for now, his only focus was to survive,
and Ryan wasn't going to get in the way.

***

"Theresa, could I speak to you for a
moment? It's urgent."

The voice belonged to Dr. Hiru,
and the sound of his voice drove a deep chill up Theresa's spine.
It's urgent. What was going on?

She began to tremble slightly as
she followed the doctor into the hallway. It was early in the
morning -- only seven o'clock -- so Ryan and his sisters hadn't
arrived yet, and she didn't need to worry about leaving them
worried in room 1204. Sighing heavily, Theresa placed her back
against the wall and waited for Dr. Hiru's next words, her nerves
acting up terribly inside her. Of course, she had no idea what
he'd say, but because it was urgent, she needed to
listen.

Dr. Hiru had a clipboard in his
hand. God, he always had that clipboard. He kept staring at it as
he said, "So, it's urgent."

Duh, her mind screamed,
but she remained silent.

"I just wanted to inform you of
the test results from yesterday. Now you know why it's
urgent."

Theresa wanted to punch him. Why
couldn't he just be honest and tell her? He always had to pull
that I'll-leave-you-hanging-instead nonsense, and she was sick of
it. "What...what do they show?" she managed.

He held out this picture from the
brain scan and pointed to a smallish, round, white thing that had
appeared in her brain. "See that?" he said.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, and her
hand flew to her mouth quicker than she could process what she
was seeing. "Is that...?"